Nov. 14, 2012
Contact:
Burt Bluhm, Department of Plant Pathology
479-575-2677 / bbluhm@uark.edu
Dave Edmark, Agricultural Communication Services
479-575-5647 / dedmark@uark.edu
Plant Pathology partners in Energy Department project for
bioenergy crop disease study
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Burt Bluhm, University of Arkansas System Division of
Agriculture assistant professor of plant pathology, will partner with a team of researchers
in a U.S. Department of Energy-supported project to perform transcriptome (RNA)
sequencing of bioenergy crop plants susceptible to disease from particular fungi.
The research team will work under the Energy Department’s Community
Sequencing Program. The project will explore how fungi in the class Dothideomycetes
cause disease in bioenergy crops. The genomes of many bioenergy crops and their
fungal pathogens have been sequenced, providing scientists the resources to study the
genetic basis of interactions between plants and fungi.
Bluhm said knowledge gained from the project would lead to an increase in
biofuel crop production and enable new technologies for conversion of biomass
materials to energy through metabolic engineering.
“In addition to improving disease resistance, we hope to modify the enzymes and
pathways that are used so effectively by pathogens to break down plant tissues in a
controlled, commercial setting to convert cellulosic biomass into easily fermentable
sugars,” Bluhm said.
The Dothideomycetes are among the largest and most important groups of fungi
and infect many crops involved in bioenergy production. Expanded production of
bioenergy depends on a stable supply of plant biomass, which will be threatened by
plant diseases as acreages of biofuels crop increase, Bluhm noted.
“With the available sequence information we are ready for the detailed analyses
that will lead to a complete understanding of host-pathogen interactions for improved
control of plant diseases and increased production of bioenergy crops,” Bluhm said.
Maize is the nation’s number one crop for bioethanol production and the gap
between supply and demand is widening, which will make a huge production increase
necessary. Diseases such as gray leaf spot and northern and southern corn leaf blights
are constraints that must be managed effectively to ensure continued bioethanol
production.
“We cannot afford another major outbreak, such as the southern corn leaf blight
epidemic that destroyed more than 15 percent of the U.S. corn crop in 1970,” Bluhm
said. “For sustainability, the production per unit of area must be secured. Our research
project significantly contributes to this global strategy by protecting crops from biomassreducing fungi. This project presents a timely opportunity to harness the collaborative
expertise of scientists who have proven records in genome analysis.”
Other participants in the project are Gert H.J. Kema, Wageningen University, the
Netherlands; Stephen B. Goodwin, Purdue University; Gillian Turgeon, Cornell
University; Yong Gu. USDA-ARS, Albany, Calif.; Thierry Marcel, INRA, France; MarcHenri Lebrun, INRA, France; Uta Paszkowski, University of Lausanne, Switzerland; Eva
Stukenbrock, Max Planck Institute, Germany; Shaobin Zhong, North Dakota State
University, and Igor Grigoriev, U.S. Department of Energy-Joint Genome Institute.
PHOTO (Bluhm02.jpg):
Burt Bluhm
News releases and photos are available online at
http://arkansasagnews.uark.edu/392.htm